Step Up
by alittlenutjob
Summary: Just a foray into how and why Tamra/Morgan became a thing, and how that first date worked. They're pretty different. As always I own nothing and write this with the greatest respect for the creators.


He was her type in a way; funny, a little messy, confident to the point of delusion, but she just could not get a read on him. Guys hit on her all the time. It was pretty tiresome, bordering on offensive and invasive some days. Morgan though...he'd ask her out and when she'd turn him down he would back off immediately and a couple days later he'd do something surprising and thoughtful like drop a packet of ibuprofen on the desk because he noticed she was pinching her sinuses. He never acted like their working or personal relationship was in the least affected by her rejection. Taken by surprise she'd be a little friendlier than she'd usually be with a colleague, and then he'd ask her out again. And she'd turn him down. And he'd ask about something she mentioned in passing like her cousin Sheena's blind date. Rinse and repeat. It should have been exhausting, but instead it was a bit like having an overenthusiastic puppy who just wanted to spend time with you. Tamra felt herself getting a little less guarded with him by the day. It had to be the strangest friendship of her adult life.

Last night though they got so wrapped up in a discussion about the need for a nurse practitioner in the practice and Morgan's plans to make it happen that he rode the subway all the way to her stop, and when they realized what happened they just kept going. They stopped at a crappy diner and got coffee and kept talking 'til almost midnight. She offered to walk him back to the station and he insisted instead on walking her to her door. Impulsively she'd kissed him on the cheek and pulled away to find him staring at her, eyes wide with shock. She suspected her face looked just as shocked and she muttered a confused goodnight before springing up the stairs. As she watched him through the window he was still holding his cheek as he shuffled down the street. Tamra wasn't one to lose sleep over much of anything, but she'd been a little restless that night, afraid that a little slip would affect their working relationship. And a little afraid too that it wouldn't.

She'd tried to break the tension this morning with a joke. "You always talk about giving biopsies on a first date?"

Morgan looked at her like she'd grown another head. "What? That wasn't a first date."

"Oh I know. I was just.." she sputtered a bit.

"You'd know if I took you on a date." A sly smile stole across his face.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He looked so confident it gave her pause. It was just enough to make her unexpectedly reckless.

"Okay then, try," she challenged him.

"What about Ray Ron?"

"You let me worry about him."

"So you're asking me out?"

"I guess I am."

"Okay, I accept. So where are you taking me?"

"I'm not taking you anywhere. You're taking me out."

"The person who asks is the person who plans. And the person who pays."

"Since when?"

"When's the last time you went on a first date? It's 2014."

"I know that. And I guess it's been a while. Just forget about it."

"Wait, wait. I'm sorry. Tamra, can I take you out tonight?"

Tamra smiled. "Okay."

. . . .

It occurred to her as she stood in front of the mirror that almost every minute she'd ever spent with Morgan she'd been wearing scrubs. She'd passed over a couple of nice dresses before settling on something a bit more casual. It wasn't like a real first date, right?

She smoothed her cardigan and fussed with her skirt when she realized she was dressed almost exactly like Betsy. Not that it was a bad thing, but it was definitely not a date thing. What would Dr L do? She'd overdress and she'd totally own it. Tamra pulled everything off quickly and started again.

A glimpse in the mirror at the mismatched bra and panties she was wearing triggered a fleeting impulse to change into something more flattering, but it was quashed quickly with a little flutter in her stomach that reminded her that this was not a real date and no one was seeing anyone in their underwear tonight. She pulled on the purple dress she'd rejected 3 times already as too nice, and tried to dressed it down by putting the cardigan back on and swapping her heels for cute sneakers. Why was she so nervous? Her stomach flipped again when she heard the doorbell and she made a run for it before Sheena answered the door and derailed the whole night. She hadn't told Sheena, who didn't even like RayRon, but would almost definitely give her crap about going out with someone else while she was still with him. Grabbing her coat she shouted a quick "Later!" and held her breath as she slipped out the door

. . . .

As she stood at the plate waiting for Morgan to turn on the machine, she bent her knees a little and tried to loosen up, pushing her butt out a little as she got her center of gravity a little lower. A wolf whistle cut through the air and she closed her eyes, impatient with the jerkoff who whistled, but trying to ignore it. She was more than a little surprised though at Morgan for not speaking up for her. In her distraction she missed the first ball as it whirred right by her, swinging just a little too late.

"Keep your eye on the ball," Morgan called out from behind the cage.

"I've got a couple of balls she can keep her eyes on," came a call from her left and for the second time the ball flew past as her bat sliced through the air just a second too late.

Morgan ignored the guy again as he offered more advice. "Choke up on the bat a little, you'll be able to control your swing better."

"I know what I'm doing, Morgan."

"Yeah, she knows what she's doing," her unwelcome catcaller shouted.

Swish another ball flew past and she sighed. "Turn it off Morgan."

She swing the bat angrily in the air a couple of times before turning to open the door to the cage. Holding the bat loosely, she strolled out and peered around looking for the source of the distraction.

"Hey girl. You need to choke up a little." The guy wore a cap backwards, and she could smell his cologne from 20 feet away. He was irritatingly reminiscent of Ray Ron.

"Oh you think I should choke up a little?" she asked coyly as she let the bad swing loose in her hands.

"Maybe you haven't held something that big in your hands before, baby. I could help you with that." The guy leered as she got closer, mistaking her bared teeth for a smile. His smile evaporated as the bat swept through the air, cracking against the wooden bench only inches from his knee.

"Oops, I missed!" Before she could take a second swing arms wrapped around her from behind and lifted her into the air. She kicked at the air and was promptly let go to fall straight on her ass. "What the hell was that Morgan?"

"You need to cool down, mama."

"Don't tell me to cool down. And don't pick me up!"

"I'm sorry I picked you up, but you were swinging for him and you don't wanna go down for battery over some jerk with a smart mouth."

"Maybe I wanna go to jail!"

"No, you don't," Morgan said quietly.

Tamra looked up at him from where she sat on the ground and felt ashamed. Morgan was pretty open about his past, but she could see easily that for every thing he talked about, he kept back something too. Something that hurt. And it made her heart hurt a little too. "Sorry, Morgan. You're right. I was being stupid."

He offered her his hand and pulled her up. "You weren't being stupid. That guy was a jackass and he has an asskicking coming for him one day, but you're too good to give up your future for someone like him."

"You don't know I'd get convicted." She dusted herself down and checked her dress for any tears.

"Tamra, you're black."

She gave him a very dry look. "Morgan, I know I'm black."

"You'd definitely get convicted," he stated matter-of-factly.

She looked at him carefully, trying to read his expression. "Maybe."

"Definitely. It's a rigged system, and you don't belong in it. You're smart and you're funny and you sing like an angel and you have a future. Don't get sidetracked because someone has a smart mouth. You know what I do when someone kicks my emotional heart-ass?"

"Your what?" Her eyebrows raised.

"You know, like when someone kicks your ass, but it's your emotions?"

"Okay..."

"I pretend that they're talking to my best warrior self. The part of me that can't be hurt by words and can walk away from small petty things like that."

"And that works?"

"Sometimes." There it was again, just that little glimmer of hurt that was so different from his stupid puppy hurt face. The kind of hurt he kept to himself.

"So that guy was just yelling things at my warrior?"

His face lit up. "Yes, exactly! Give her a name. Let her take on the stupid stuff. You be above it."

They walked in silence while she considered what he'd said, but something was bothering her. She had to ask. "Why didn't you step up?"

"Step up for what?"

"Why didn't you tell that guy to go to hell, or do SOMETHING when he was talking to me like that?"

"Why would I?"

"Are you being serious? 'Cause I'm your date. 'Cause for all he knows I'm your woman and you should have defended me."

"Is that what RayRon would do?" he asked seriously.

"Yeah, it is! RayRon would have shut that guy up. Maybe we'd have spent the night in the hospital after he got his ass kicked, but he wouldn't have stood by and let me defend myself."

"Well that's stupid." He shook his head derisively.

Oh he was treading on thin ice now. She narrowed her eyes. "Why is that stupid?"

"Number one, getting physical isn't a solution. It just causes problems. And number two, I didn't let you defend yourself. You defended yourself. You didn't need me and you certainly don't need a man to let you do anything. You took care of it. I never for a second thought you couldn't take care of yourself. That's why I didn't 'step up.'"

She didn't even know what to say to that. "Oh."

"The only reason I jumped in when I did was because I thought you might regret it later and I apologize for putting my hands on you. That wasn't cool."

"It's okay, Morgan. You were right. You were just being a good friend."

His face fell just a little, but he covered it quickly. "You wanna go get something to eat? There's this noodle place that definitely does gluten free stuff."

She smiled and reached out, taking his hand. "Yeah, let's do that."

He looked down where she held his hand and laced his fingers in hers. "Tamra..."

She cut him off. "I choose Maya. For my warrior name, I mean."

"Okay." He smiled at her.

"For Maya Angelou. I love her poetry."

"You like poetry?" He looked so surprised and kind of pleased too. "You're so smart, Tamra. Can you like, recite poetry?"

Tamra felt her cheeks grow hot. "I know some of hers."

"Will you tell me them?"

"Maybe someday. I mean, poetry is kinda heavy for a first date."

"So there might be a second date?" he asked shyly.

"Yeah." Tamra had been surprised by so many things that had happened tonight, but what she felt now was not a surprise at all. "There might be a second date."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I get that some people aren't feeling Tamra/Morgan as a couple, but I think if we had a chance to really look at what attracts them to each other it could be a really lovely story. I struggle a little with their voices 'cause I haven't written them much, but I wanted to basically show how Morgan brought something to the table that Tamra actually wants, like a high regard for her intelligence. Which also reflects more about why Morgan was pursuing her, beyond her physical beauty. I hope it worked. Questions/comments always very welcome. 


End file.
